Usability Testing · Case Study
Pimsleur’s Language Learning App —
A look at the relationship between an interactive language learning app and its users.
In collaboration with Yiting Cai
- Usability Testing
- Miro
- Illustrator/ Indesign
It is likely that confused and discouraged users will not continue to use the app or convert after the free trial. Pimsleur can help establish long-term customer retention by solving this problem and ultimately leverage growth opportunities in the language learning market.
In order to develop a more intuitive platform that converts new users, we want to define barriers new users are facing during the free trial. By conducting a usability test, we will learn more about new users’ habits, expectations, and preferences, and where to focus our app development and enhancement efforts.
App: Pimsleur: Language Learning
Device: iOS
Equipment: Zoom app
Moderation style: Moderated
Number of participants: 3
Three Participants:
- Mix of male and female
- Diverse nationalities and native languages
- Have used at least one language learning app in the past
- Currently practicing to learn a new language
- Between the ages of 18 and 35
What are we trying to learn?
- Understand what a first-time user goes through
- Evaluate whether users can easily navigate the design
- Identify pain points that new users may encounter
- Collect insights for app development and enhancement
We presented one scenario, along with 6 tasks and follow-up questions.
Let’s imagine you are planning a trip to Colombia next month, and you’d like to be able to speak to the locals. To learn Spanish, you decide to use the Pimsleur Language Learning app.
Guiding participants through their first free trial lesson as a new user, our test covered the sign-up flow, onboarding flow, learn dashboard, audio lesson page and premium features.
Key Findings:
- Smooth flow and clean interface were noted by users
Key Findings:
- It was common for users to glance through the onboarding directions without reading or retaining the directions
Recommendation:
- Explore different onboarding designs and copy that are more interactive and see which are preferred by users
Key Findings:
- There is a lack of understanding the skill badges icons and the feature's functionality
- There is a lack of clarity regarding the progress bar
- Starting the lesson is intuitive to users
- Users are not very attracted to the images and visual interactions used on the lesson cards
Recommendations:
- Incorporate a tutorial to inform users how to use the Skill Badges, and reconsider whether they belong on the lesson card or somewhere else in the app.
- Make the lesson card more informative by adding a title, short description, or preview of the course to the lesson card
Key Findings:
- There is a lack of clarity regarding the two icons in the top right corner
- Time remaining in a lesson cannot easily be recognized by users
- It is unclear to users how the learning methodology works. There was a user wishing there was a transcript to use, even though Pimsleur is an audio program
Recommendations:
- Introduce how the Pimsleur Method works to new users
- Add time remaining to the timer
- Reconsider the symbols used for the two icons on the top right corner and whether they belong somewhere else in the app.
Key Findings:
- The sequential order of the premium feature is unclear to users. In most cases, users assume that they should start from the top and work their way down
- One of the Premium features, Quick Match, does not meet users’ expectations
- The design was clean and well-categorized, according to users
Recommendation:
- Provide proactive guidance on how to use the Premium features
Are there any test participants who would consider purchasing this application to learn a new language after trying the free trial? You can find out by watching the video below.
